You're Going to Be Alright
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: Jemma grew up without a soulmark, thinking she'd live her life alone... only to find her soulmate in one of the most horrifying conditions she can imagine - and he can't even speak to her. *Two-shot; prompt by WhoPotterAvenge-X Kane.*
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first chapter of a two-shot from a prompt given to my by WhoPotterAvenge-X Kane. Enjoy!**

* * *

Jemma Simmons had always been a tenderhearted person. Growing up without any soul mark words at all and enduring the torturous teasing because of it had played a part in shaping who she was as a person. Suffering so much herself had made her more aware of when others were hurting. That was part of the reason that she had gotten a medical degree. It made her more forgiving too; since she didn't have the option of holding out for a relationship with her soul mate, she was more willing to get to know what people held beyond the surface because… what if _this _person could become just as good as a soul mate to her?

She was grateful for the person that she had become; she liked that woman… she just wished that she could've gotten here while having a soul mate.

* * *

Thor stared in horror at the ball of misery cowering in the farthest corner of Loki's dungeon cell. _How had his brother been reduced to that? _

He had been on Earth, well settled into life in England with Jane, when Sif had appeared.

"Please don't unleash your wrath on me," she'd pled worriedly. "But the All-Father ordered you left none the wiser until the conflict was over. Years ago, Loki imprisoned your father and took over the throne while masquerading as the All-Father. We managed to overcome him without you because your father felt it would be too much of a conflict of interest for you if you were asked to fight Loki again."

Thor had, in accordance with Sif's fears, been beyond furious at his father's deception and had returned instantly with Sif to Asgard. He had exchanged _words _with the All-Father before steadfastly demanding an audience with his adopted brother who had once again been relegated to the dungeons - apparently for the past _decade. _This time without Frigga's mercies to care for him - _and by the Norns did it show_, Thor thought, stepping as close to the magical barrier of Loki's cell as he dared.

"Loki?" he asked thickly, searching the bedraggled pile of skin and bones for any sign that his brother was still in there. But Loki kept his back to him, not even acknowledging Thor's presence. "Brother, speak to me!" he begged, half fearing that the worst had happened while no one had been paying attention to this most-detested of prisoners.

Loki stirred ever so slightly, easing the curled ridge of his spine that Thor could see clear as day through the patches in his tattered shift as he shifted. He rotated his head slowly towards Thor, obviously struggling to come to himself behind the starved glaze over his eyes.

And Thor gasped raggedly, hardly believing what he was seeing. Someone had sewn his brothers lips closed!

"Lower the barrier so that I may go in," Thor snarled at Sif who was standing nervously nearby, his tone brooking no argument whatsoever.

The moment he was obeyed, Thor stepped into the cell - this one was so much smaller than the one Loki had been in before - and scooped his brother gently into his arms. Loki made not even a sound, his head lolling uselessly against Thor's shoulder, and the complete lack of objection brought Thor close to panic.

"My prince?" Sif asked carefully, lingering on the outside of the cell.

"What happened to him?" Thor croaked.

Her voice was barely a whisper as she said, "All of this is by the All-Father's orders. Now his offence is much worse than what happened on Midgard; he nearly had your father killed."

"So the All-Father will kill him in exchange?! How is he supposed to eat with his mouth as it is?"

Sif lowered her eyes and Thor was struck with the awful truth. He hadn't been eating at all. For ten years the fallen prince had been given no food. As he was, Loki wouldn't live much longer. A growl rose deep from inside Thor's chest and he started to walk out of the cell, Loki still cradled in his arms like a sleeping child - only he wasn't sleeping, he was near unto unconscious.

"What are you doing?" Sif asked sharply, her tone becoming a little more gentle but remaining just as firm as she reminded him, "You cannot do anything without disobeying the All-Father's orders."

"Then I will disobey him!" Thor snapped, eyes flashing as fury began to role off of him in waves. "Loki is returning with me to Midgard."

"Perhaps it would simply be kinder to allow him his demise." Sif suggested gently. "Where could you possibly take him to give him the help he would require?" she asked, trying to get him to see her point of view. "There's nowhere on Midgard that he would be welcome, let alone where they would be _able _to repair this much damage."

Yet even as she said the words, Thor saw a flash of an idea pass through her eyes. Before he could call her out on it, demand to know what she was thinking, she informed him, "There is more at play here than just physical ailments. Odin put a spell on him; he's no longer able to speak, even if his lips are freed. Thor, there is more required to heal him than what can be done for him on Midgard."

"But," Thor realized. "You have a suggestion - a place I might be able to go to get him the necessary help?" Sif studied him in silence until he roared, "Tell me!"

Sif flinched, beginning carefully, "The son of Coul yet lives, my prince. He has rebuilt the organization, SHIELD, and I know that there are at least two doctors with him who are at least partly familiar with the things of Asgard. Perhaps…"

"Then I must go to them," Thor declared resolutely. He summoned Mjolnir into his hand, requesting pointedly, "Help me or get out of my way."

Sif studied him for another minute longer before her entire body sagged with resignation and she stepped to the side - allowing him to take his brother to safety.

* * *

"What's going on out there?" Jemma muttered to Fitz where the two of them stood side by side in the labs, watching the pandemonium taking place on the other side of the glass.

Fitz shook his head, both of them as clueless as the other until Skye barreled into the room and declared, "Jemma, Coulson wants you in the med bay _now_!"

The brunette turned and ran back the way she'd come and Jemma raced alongside her, asking, "What's going on?"

"Asgard - Thor and Loki showed up!"

"_No_!" Jemma cried, skidding to a stop in front of May and demanding, "Who's hurt? What did Loki do to them?"

"Loki's the one who needs help," May said, mouth pulled tightly down with displeasure. "He's half dead. Thor's explaining the situation to Coulson now. Kind of." That's when Jemma registered the Thor versus Coulson shouting match going on somewhere that she couldn't see as May continued, "But Coulson's already said that we're going to try to help Loki, so he needs to be your top priority right now."

Jemma nodded, taking a deep breath to steel herself for meeting the god who had killed her boss. But _nothing _could have prepared her for what she saw awaiting her on the examination table. The once-proud god was dressed in rags and cowering wide-eyed, curled into as small a ball as his well-over-six-foot frame could manage. He looked like an abused puppy, Jemma realized, taking a cautious step towards him while May ordered everyone else out of the room and then stood guard in the doorway.

"You're going to be alright," Jemma promised Loki gently, raising a hand carefully towards him. "I'm going to help you."


	2. Chapter 2

_Thor_, Loki's foggy brain registered the sound of his brother's voice as if it were coming from some place far away. _Thor was here. Not in England. Not with Jane. Here. _

Then there was _touch_ – a foreign thing, considering that no one had stepped foot inside his cell in what he was sure had to by now be years. Strong, warm arms wrapped around him, cradling, and then _carrying. Away. Out of his cell. _

There was Sif's voice and Thor yelling and then what he thought was travel – whether by the Bifrost or a secret tunnel, he couldn't tell, didn't care. _He was out of his cell and away from Asgard _and the dregs of life that hadn't known remained in him was growing.

Wherever they went, it was _cold _against his exposed skin, but the strength it took to _open his eyes, investigate, wasn't worth it. Thor was with him; he was safe._

There was_ noise, so much noise – people shouting, strangers, a lot, too many. _Then metal against Loki's skin as Thor set him down and steps fading away as Thor, exchanging sharp words with _Coulson,_ left Loki alone in a room full of _people – staring, poking, gaping. _

_No! Thor!_

It took every ounce of strength that Loki had to sit up, lean against the wall so that he could keep track of every person in the room, and curl into himself. People were coming, going… and then most of them were gone. Two women remained behind: one in black hovering warily at the door – _were they afraid of _him? _Didn't they realize how defenseless he was, how at their mercy… how the tables had turned? _– and the other was slowly easing her way towards him, hands outstretched peaceably.

Still Loki flinched away from the very idea of touch as all the new stimulation filtered through his brain, making his mind feel hyperactive and on edge after years of _nothingness._

"You're going to be alright; I'm going to help you." The brunette said in a calming tone, but those _words _set his mind _on fire _with an adrenaline rush_._

_Because he knew those words! This woman was his soulmate!_

He came frantically to life, pitifully trying to open his mouth, to _speak, to tell her! Something, anything! _Yet he could manage _nothing. _Even if the stitches in his lips were cut, he would still be unable to speak ever again, thanks to Odin's awful curse on him – the man he'd once called "Father" had taken his magic and his very voice for the rest of eternity, and _he couldn't even explain this to his own soulmate!_

A scream pressed up from the very depths of his soul, but he was unable to release it, the trapped force of it making him shake like a man possessed.

Terrified - _Norns, he hadn't meant to scare her! – _his soulmate screamed for Thor.

* * *

Thor and Coulson both all but ricocheted into the room as Jemma cried, "He's having a panic attack! I don't know what happened!"

"Loki!" Thor siad loudly, grabbing his brother's shoulders.

Loki twisted wildly away from him, trying to breathe while simultaneously… keeping his eyes on her?

"Loki," Thor demanded again. "What? You _must_ calm down, brother! You're safe; these people can and will help you, but you must let them."

"Was it touch?" Coulson asked Jemma. "Did you touch him?"

"No, I didn't even get to that point!" Jemma said helplessly. "I told him I was going to help him, and he just… did this."

Behind them, Thor froze turning slowly to look at Jemma as he asked, eerily calm, "What were your exact words to him?"

Loki started to breathe through his nose, nodding frantically as he began to make himself calm down.

Jemma paused, shaking her head as she realized that she'd already forgotten in the ensuing panic.

Recognizing the issue, Loki slapped Thor's bicep, getting the blond god to turn back towards him as he pointed firmly to his hip. Through one of the dozens of holes in the fabric, Jemma could make out the black scrawl of what must have been part of his soulmark words.

_Wait. What?! Did he think…?_

Thor turned back to her, asking carefully, "Did you say, 'you're going to be alright; I'm going to help you'?"

"That sounds about right," Jemma murmured hesitantly.

The sound of ripping cloth permeated the room as Loki made the hole in his shift big enough to reveal his entire soulmark and motioned her towards him, his eyes pleading with her. She stepped forward hesitantly and stared trembling at the black words against his too-pale skin. The first words that she'd said to him in her cramped, doctor's handwriting.

"No," she said shakily, looking between the two gods and Loki's soulmark as she explained, "That can't be right; I don't even have any words at all."

Loki reached hesitantly for her hand – the thought broke through her muddled brain that now _he _was the one treating _her _like a wounded animal – as his other hand rested lightly against his bound lips by way of explanation.

Things had been happening so quickly that Jemma only now noticed the stitches, involuntarily shuddering and tightening her grip on his hand in pity.

"The All-Father has made it so that he shall never speak again," Thor revealed in a low voice.

"Surely we can just cut the stitches away…"

"Then a curse will keep it so that he still cannot utter a sound."

Tears gathered in Jemma's eyes at the impossibility of the situation. Despite herself, a small part of her mind _wished_, registered how close she was coming to what she'd always wanted while still being so far away from it. "How will I know if you're my soulmate then?"

Loki's breathing started to speed up again – wanting to communicate so badly, yet unable to – until May, practically forgotten at the edges of the room, thought of the obvious and shoved a notepad and pen into his lap.

He scrawled hurriedly, eyes begging Jemma along with the words on the paper as she read what he wrote.

_You'll have to trust me. Give me a chance. __Please._

Jemma looked up from the page, meeting Loki's blue puppy-dog eyes hesitantly. He winced, tears starting to shimmer in his own eyes as he slapped the notebook back down onto his lap and wrote something more.

_You can walk away if you must. But please, I beg of you, give me a chance. No, I cannot tell you for certain, but what if…?_

"Give me a chance." "What if?" The thought processes that had guided Jemma's interactions with people her entire life. How could she drop them now, of all times? Because he was right. _What if?_

"Okay," she whispered breathily – and then turned away, forcing herself to fulfill some of her original purpose in coming to this room as she retrieved a pair of sewing scissors from her first aid kit. She turned back to Loki, asking, "Do you trust me to do this?"

He nodded slowly, his eyes switching nervously between the scissors and her gaze. So she took a deep breath and gently cupped his chin, not noticing as Thor, Coulson, and May slipped into the next room as she made quick work of her gruesome task. It surprised her, how unnervingly intimate doing this felt. She and Loki were breathing one another's air, her eyes focused on her task while his were focused on her.

When the threads were gone, Jemma gently brushed away the pinpricks of blood around his mouth before meeting his eyes, unable to look away from the fascinating blue orbs two inches away from her own face. Loki cocked his head to the side, moving achingly slow as he brought a hand up to cradle the base of her skull, fingers tangling in her hair as he lowered his mouth onto hers.

And it suddenly didn't matter if he could never speak to her, because in that moment, with that kiss, she _knew _that she had a _soulmate _and that man was _Loki_, mute though he may be.

When he broke the kiss off, taking a shallow breath as his gaze skittered to her face, she could _see _the moment when the adrenaline that had been keeping him upright began to wane. He swayed with exhaustion and Jemma was reminded again how frail he was.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and eased him onto his back, kissing him gently as she promised again, "You're going to be alright; I'm going to help you…and love you forever."

* * *

**Well, there you have it! Hopefully you all liked this!**


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